Irish coffee

How did the popular drink Irish coffee originate? As the story goes, one cold, dank winter's evening in the early 1940s saw a sea plane land in Foynes sea port (which is now Shannon International airport) in west Ireland. From it were ferried a group of fairly damp and miserable American passengers. The head chef at Foynes, Joseph Sheridan, made coffee for the group. To give them a boost, he added whiskey, sugar and cream to the coffees.

Sheridan developed this recipe over the next few years. In 1945, after the new Shannon International airport was built, one American visitor liked the drink so much that he was determined to get it made back at home. Stanton Delaplane approached Jack Koeppler, the owner of the Buena Vista café in San Fransisco. The pair spent some time trying to perfect the recipe and eventually succeeded after much experimentation.

The traditional method starts first with making the coffee, which is poured into an Irish coffee glass. The sugar is stirred in next and then the whiskey is added. Finally thick, lightly whipped cream is poured in over the back of a spoon. The sugar and the frothing of the cream helps the cream to stay afloat, and the coffee is then drunk through this layer.